Robert e



(No Model.)

B. E. HU NN. TILE.

No. 484,741. Patented Oct. 18, 1892.

- EINTTED STATES PATENT @rrien.

ROBERT E. HUNN, OF VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA.

TILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,741, dated October 18, 1892. Application filed July 1, 1891- Serial No. 398,176. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, ROBERT E. HUNN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vallejo, Solano county, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Tile-Veneering; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the art of covering surfaces with tiles which owing to their construction and the method of laying them can be made so thin that the term veneering can be properly applied.

My invention consists in the tile, as a new article of manufacture, constructed or formed with the peculiar and novel keys or bonds hereinafter fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a tile which on account of its construction can be rapidly and securely laid to cover any surface, such as the outsides of buildings, mantel-pieces, the interiors of vestibules, and all surfaces required to be covered, said tile being inexpensive and serviceable.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of myinvention, Figure 1 is aperspective view of the obverse face of my tile. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the reverse face. Fig. 3 is a view showing the tiles laid up. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the tiles breaking-joints.

A is my tile. It may be made of terra-cotta or other clay, of cement, of metal, or of any other material found suitable to cover surfaces. It may be of any general shapeplain, curved, or angular'to fit the surface to be covered, and it may be of any size. On one of the side edges of its obverse face is formed a rabbet-flange a. On the other side edge of its reverse face is formed a similar rabbetflange a, which is consequently reversed in position to that of flange c. On one of the end edges of its obverse face it has the two end rabbet-tongues a and on the same edge of its reverse face it has the intervening rabbet-groove a obverse face it has the central rabbet-tongue c and on the same edge of its reverse face it has the two rabbet-grooves a In the central tongue 0. is made a nail-hole a, and in the side flange a are made grooves a to receive tenter-hooks or side-projecting nail-heads.

On the other end edge of its Fig. 3 shows the manner in which the tiles are laid to cover the surface to which they are applied. Tile A is first secured by having a nail driven through hole a in the top central tongue at. Tile B is laid alongside of tile A, its side flange 17 passing beneath or behind side flange a'of tile A, and a nail is driven through hole 19 of tongue 12 of said tile B. A third tile is then to be laid beside tile B and similarly fitted. Thus each tile is secured in place by the adjacent flange of its neighbor, and all the tiles are further secured by the nails. Now for the next row the tile Ois laid directly above tile A, the two end tongo es c on the bottom of tile 0 fitting behind the two end grooves of of tile A and its intervening groove 0 fitting over the top central tongue a of said tile A. Tile D is similarly laid above tile B. Thus the tiles are bonded together at their ends. Both tiles 0 and D are secured by nails through their top tongues. If it be desired to lay the tiles with half-bond orbroken joints, they are placed as shown in Fig. 4. Here tiles A and B are laid together, as before. Then tile O of the upper row is reversed end for end and is placed midway between the vertical planes of tiles A and B. Its central tongue 0 fits down into and behind the adjacent grooves 0, and b of tiles A and B, while its own grooves c overlap the central tongues c and b of said tiles A and B. It will thus be seen that the tiles are keyed or bonded together, top, bottom, and sides, and each is secured by a single nail. In places where desirable, tenter-hooks or nails with side-proj ecting heads, as shown at E, may be driven into the support and their heads made to overlap and lie in one of the grooves a of flange at.

These tiles can be made very thin and yet be held firmly together. They are inexpensive and can be rapidly and securely laid. They can be used as a covering for any surface, and will avoid the labor involved in laying the ordinary thick tiles in mortar or cement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a tile having one side of its obverse and reverse faces formed with a flange and having one end of its reverse face provided with two reversely-curved rabbet-flanges forming an intervening groove on the contiguous end of the obverse face, while the opposite end of said reverse face is provided withacentral tongue forming rabbet-flanges a on the obverse face, said flanges, tongue, and grooves serving as keys or bonds to hold adjacent tiles together, substantially as herein described.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a tile having one side of its obverse and reverse faces formed with a flange and having one end of its reverse face provided with two reversely-curved flanges forming an intervening groove on the contiguous end of the obverse face, while the opposite end of said re- Verse face is provided with a central tongue forming rabbet-flanges a on the contiguous obverse i'ace, said side flange having grooves A substantially as herein described.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a tile formed with the flanges, tongues, and g ooves a, a, a a a and a on the edges of its obverse and reverse faces, the flanges a having the grooves a and the tongue a having the nail-holes a, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ROBERT E. HUN N.

Witnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, J. A. BAYLESS. 

